15 ex-Redskins employees say they were sexually, verbally harassed on the job

Fifteen former Washington Redskins employees, all women, told The Washington Post that during their time working for the team, they experienced sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

The allegations span from 2006 to 2019. One former marketing coordinator, Emily Applegate, told the Post would cry several times a week after being berated by her boss; he would tell her she was "f--king stupid" and then immediately compliment her on her body. "It was the most miserable experience of my life," Applegate told the Post. "And we all tolerated it, because we knew if we complained — and they reminded us of this — there were 1,000 people out there who would take our job in a heartbeat."

The 14 other women spoke with the Post anonymously, and several had signed nondisclosure agreements. Some of the women said they were propositioned while at training camp, while others received unwanted shoulder rubs and pinches and were told to wear tight clothing when meeting with wealthy clients. "It was my first job, so I kind of normalized it," one woman told the Post. "And it was happening to every single one of my female co-workers under the age of 40."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Redskins had just one full-time employee working in human resources, the women told the Post, and female employees would pull aside new workers to tell them to avoid certain people and places, including a staircase where someone standing at the bottom could look up the skirt of a woman standing at the top.

Two employees flagged by the Post during its investigations were fired: Alex Santos, the director of pro personnel, and Richard Mann II, the assistant director of pro personnel.

The Redskins said it has hired a firm to review the matter and "help the team set new employee standards for the future." The women did not accuse owner Daniel Snyder of sexual harassment, but did say he fostered a toxic environment that encouraged sophomoric behavior and bullying tactics. They do believe that he knew about the inappropriate behavior, as did former team president Bruce Allen. "I would assume Bruce knew, because he sat 30 feet away from me ... and saw me sobbing at my desk several times every week," Applegate told the Post. Snyder declined requests for an interview. Read more at The Washington Post.